The lead, being a single paragraph in length, seems on the short side. I would add more information about the construction of the instrument, for instance.
True enough, I've had a go at re-working the lead.
Wagner should be introduced, and his first name given.
Done.
The information in the lead section is not controversial, and so the citations can be omitted.
Done.
There no need to link aerophone twice in the infobox.
Fixed.
I would question the inclusion of Ben van Dijk, Bill Reichenbach, and Phil Teele in the infobox (seeing as the text doesn’t mention van Dijk, Teele is notable only as a session player, and the text emphasises that the use of the instrument in some genres is now “ubiquitous”).
Ok - I've removed Ben van Dijk for now, even though he's a "major player" and should have his own article... not needed for this GA, and I won't have time to do it justice anyway. Are you ok with Phil Teele and Bill Reichenbach staying, since they were the big session names that kicked off the whole soundtrack phenomenon? Jon (talk) 12:19, 29 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
There are builders in the infobox that require to be cited, and/or should be included in the text of the article.
I wondered about this; the infobox contains pretty much the exhaustive list of manufacturers that I know of that currently make contrabass trombones (in their regular catalogue, if they had one, rather than custom to-order builds). Not sure how to go about making it legit, without providing a bad list in the article, and aside from providing primary sources (mfr websites/catalogues). The primary Yeo, Guion and Herbert books are either not current enough, or don't adequately cover European makers.
One solution might be to include the information in a separate Notes section (==Notes== {{reflist|group=note}}) using {{refn|1=xxx|group=note}}, where xxx is the cited information. Amitchell125 (talk) 07:22, 28 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
I'm not sure what you mean by "cited information" - do you mean an exhaustive list of links to each (current) manufacturers web page, and then a note next to each item? That would clutter the infobox; would one note with a lists similar to the existing manufacturer refs do? — Jon (talk) 22:25, 28 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
I meant to take the information out of the infobox and create a note in the Construction section that includes the information, and provides citations. Whatever you do, you cannot have (uncited) information in the infobox that is not present in the article. Amitchell125 (talk) 07:15, 29 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
I've added the current manufacturer websites to the existing "F" and B♭" catch-all references, and dropped (historical) Gebr Alexander which isn't mentioned in the text. Jon (talk) 12:19, 29 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
(Halary) – the reason why this name appears should have a brief explanation.
Done.
In part because of the infobox, the images in this section are causing sandwiching (see MOS:SANDWICH). To avoid this issue, it looks like some of the illustrations need to be removed.
I've moved three images to a multi-image template gallery, further down. I also see what's happening, the default skin now moves the __TOC__ to the left sidebar, which moves all the text up and crams all the images under the infobox (I'm using Timeless by default and keep forgetting to check!) Jon (talk) 12:19, 29 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
First use in orchestral music
Bizet should be introduced, and his first name given. Ditto Halévy.
Done.
La Coutes du Roi de Thulé - consider amending to {{lang|fr|La Coutes du Roi de Thulé}}.
Done.
In the caption, link motif (Motif (music)); Wagner; Das Rheingold.
Done.
I would introduce Conn (or use the company’s full name).
Add links to film and video game soundtracks (as in the lead).
Done.
late 20th century – sounds too vague imo, at the least an appropriate decade needs to be included.
Done, changed to 1990s.
Construction
As the ‘Main article’ hatnote is a general article, and not specific to the contrabass trombone, I would leave it out.
The reason that's there is to refer to more general construction of trombones, and is also why this section might seem technical; perhaps a note to this effect could be added?
The text in this section is very technical for non-specialist readers. Is there an illustration available to help to explain it?
Good idea about illustrations; I did some for Axial flow valve. See above regarding hat note?
Hatnote looks sorted now. AM
I have not had time to come up with a good idea for a diagram, but I have had a go at simplifying/clarifying the text (and removing a trivial point that relied on Kifer's thesis), which I hope is sufficient. In context, I don't think this is any more complicated than comparable sections in bass trombone, soprano trombone, cimbasso or even the main trombone article (which by the way, are all up for GA soon if I have anything to do with it, and it'd be great if you'd be available! I've learned a lot during this process.) Please let me know if you still think this is too technical, and which bits in particular, and I can have another go at copy-editing. — Jon (talk) 04:33, 1 April 2023 (UTC)Reply
It’s not normal practice to enlarge and centre images, unless there is a specific need (such as the image being a panoramic view).
I centered this image and the Sprinz instrument image (above) because I thought, given their wide aspect ratio, they appeared too small as right-aligned thumbs, so I centered them and added the 'upright' parameter to adjust. I've adjusted this to upright=2 so it matches the Sprinz image.
Understood. AM
Range
Wagner is a duplicated link.
Fixed.
All the text in this section is uncited.
I've now trimmed this section and added references.
Repertoire
Strauss should be introduced, and his first name given. Ditto Schoenberg.
Done.
The first names of D'Indy, Berg, Webern, Varèse, Ligeti, and Boulez are all needed here.
Fixed.
Ring cycle; Wagner's Ring – consider replacing with 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' (in italics), as this name has already appeared in the text.
Done. Edit: actually, I changed it so that on first mention, there's a "commonly known as the Ring cycle" and adjusted throughout.
mammoth – is subjective and should be avoided.
Removed... although, Gurre-Lieder has indeed one of the largest orchestras ever written for, with the possible exception of Havergal Brian's "Gothic" symphony (which also requires a contrabass!)
Link symphonies; jazz.
Done.
why especially?
Removed :) The ridiculous fortissimo sound produced by a studio full of bass and contrabass trombonists in Hans Zimmer's Inception soundtrack has become somewhat of a cliché in later film soundtracks... but I'd need to find a source for that.
it can sometimes – ‘the contrabass trombone can sometimes’.
Corrected.
The last paragraph is uncited.
Fixed, to some extent. Flynn regularly switches bass to contrabass, and isn't always credited correctly on sites like Discogs and Allmusic. Is it okay to cite the CD booklets themselves in this case?
Ref 11 (Crewe) – YouTube clips are almost always not permitted in Wikipedia (see WP:ELNEVER).
That content guideline only prohibits material that infringes copyright and/or matches a URL pattern in one of the block lists, stating "when linking to sites such as Scribd, WikiLeaks, or YouTube [...] due care should be taken to avoid linking to material that violates copyright". This reference uses a YouTube clip uploaded by its author and generally meets WP:YT which states explicitly that there is no blanket ban, notwithstanding WP:RSPYT. I understand the concern though; I'll try and see if I can find something else.
Understood. The information you cite would indeed be better coming from another source—the interview is a questionable source (WP:QS), as the person being interviewed does not say where his information comes from. Amitchell125 (talk) 09:42, 28 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
I've added two references, without removing the YouTube clip, because in context I think it adds valuable context. The August Helleburg entry in Douglas Yeo's dictionary supports that Conn built a few of them (for John Philip Sousa) and only around 1900; Yeo's website photo gallery contains a photograph of his own Conn with an explanatory note that only very few were made; but neither explicitly explain that "only three survive" (one in the Conn museum, one owned by Yeo, and one owned by Murray Crewe in Pittsburg that he bought from Roger Bobo. Crewe died in 2017, so who knows where that instrument is now.) There's an additional source from Roger Bobo's site, which I'm not sure whether to use; although these extra references aren't tertiary, Yeo and Bobo are/were authorities in the field of low brass: Bobo, Roger (2006). "Conn Contrabass Trombone in BBb". rogerbobo.com. Retrieved 1 April 2023. I'd be interested what you think (I can always remove the "only three survive" if it all gets too complicated) — Jon (talk) 04:21, 1 April 2023 (UTC)Reply
The Roger Bobo source appears to be self-published, what makes you think it is reliable? I wouldn't use it. The YouTube clip could be placed in an External links section, as it is a questionable source, but is worth keeping for the sake of context. Amitchell125 (talk) 07:26, 1 April 2023 (UTC)Reply
Yeah, I'm not using it; I know there's the same thing in the ITEA journal somewhere, but I don't have access. I've changed the wording anyhow and moved the YouTube clip to external links.—Jon (talk) 22:44, 1 April 2023 (UTC)Reply
Bibliography
The links to Herbert (2019) and Yeo (2021) only go to commercial websites, and so are of little use. I would remove these links.
Done.
Consider adding ‘state=collapsed’ to the Brass Instruments template (not GA).
Done anyway.
Kifer is a teacher by profession, so what makes you think his thesis is a reliable source? (see WP:SCHOLARSHIP for more information about being cautious with theses).
I'm not sure how his current profession has anything to do with his completion of his doctorate thesis, and it is one of the only (publicly available) theses I can find that specifically deals with the contrabass trombone, which as you can imagine is a very small field. It is also probably too recent to be cited anywhere much (although fwiw I'm pretty sure it is listed in the Historic Brass Society Journal's 2020-2021 "Bibliography of writings about brass instruments").
Apologies for not being clearer, it's that Kifer has not published anything else. As far as I am aware, he is not quoted elsewhere in the literature. Where he is cited in this article, he cites personal correspondence or blogs (pp.30 33, 34), or doesn't cite at all (pp. 35, 66, 81). Amitchell125 (talk) 11:42, 28 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
I've changed the Kifer thesis citations to only rely on his synthesis of the inteviews regarding film music on p.48, and the list of orchestral works in the appendix.—Jon (talk) 22:48, 1 April 2023 (UTC)Reply
External links
Consider including a link such as this one in a new External links section (it includes an audio file of a solo piece for the instrument).
VSL is the Vienna Symphonic Library, a synthesiser sample bank, and the audio clips are not from a real instrument or player. I get the idea though; what I would really like to do (with all my infinite spare time) is upload a sound sample to Commons and use that, but I haven't had time to record one yet.— Jon (talk) 08:55, 28 March 2023 (UTC)Reply
) where they are yet to be sorted. Amitchell125 (talk) 06:46, 29 March 2023 (UTC)